The crop generated nearly $3 billion last year in California and in the past decade the United States has surpassed Iran to become the world’s top exporter of the nut.

In a sprawling plant in the heart of California’s farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they are inspected, roasted, packaged and shipped off

Pistachios have surged over the past decade to become California's sixth-largest agricultural commodity in value ahead of longtime crops such as strawberries and tomatoes.